Velociraptor: The small, feathered hunter of the desert

Velociraptor was one of the dinosaurs' small hunters. It lived in the Late Cretaceous deserts and, at about the size of a turkey, was quick, alert and intelligent. It was almost certainly feathered and is one of the best-known members of the dromaeosaurs. The tall, featherless "raptors" in films are very different from the real animal — this is a good chance to meet the true one.

Its body

Velociraptor had a light skeleton and long hind legs, so it ran quickly and nimbly. Its best-known weapon was the "sickle claw" on the second toe of each foot, about 6.5 centimetres long. It usually kept this claw raised above the ankle and flicked it out to pin or stab its prey.

In 2007 scientists found quill knobs — the little "buttons" where feathers attach — on the bones of its forearm. That is direct evidence that Velociraptor really had feathers. It is worth saying that feathers probably evolved first for warmth and display, not for flight. With its small body and feathers, the real animal looked more like a nimble, fuzzy hunter.

Where it lived and what it ate

Velociraptor lived in a dry desert environment and ate small animals, probably hunting by ambush or pursuit like many small hunters today. It may have lived alone or in small groups. The famous "Fighting Dinosaurs" fossil catches a Velociraptor locked in a struggle with a Protoceratops — one of palaeontology's most precious moments.

Where its fossils were found

Its fossils come from the Gobi Desert of Mongolia and Inner Mongolia, in rocks of the Late Cretaceous. That region preserves many fine small-dinosaur fossils and is a key place for studying dinosaur behaviour.

What the fossils tell us — and what they do not

The skeleton, the quill knobs and the "Fighting Dinosaurs" fossil tell us a good deal about its size, its feathers and how it used its sickle claw. But the colour of the feathers, its courtship and its calls still have to be inferred. The tall, feathers-free, hunched version in films is based on the larger Deinonychus and was changed for dramatic effect.

A note for grown-ups

You could talk with a child about "films versus fossils": the real Velociraptor is small and feathered, while the film one is tall and bald. Learning to tell the two apart is a good exercise in separating fact from fiction — and it often makes children want to look things up themselves.